One day, Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who carried his armor,
! Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.
! But he did not tell his father.
Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah in the pomegranate cave at Migron.
The people who were with him were about 600 men, including Ahijah, the son of Ahitub,
Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh,
wearing an ephod.
And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.
Within the passes by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison,
there was a rocky crag on one side and a rocky crag on the other side.
The name of the one was Bozes, and the name of the other, Sina.
The one crag rose on the north in front of Migmash, and the other on the south in front of Gibeah.
Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor,
Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised.
It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.
And his armor-bearer said to him,
Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you, heart and soul.
And then Jonathan said,
Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them.
And if they say to us,
Wait until we come to you, then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them.
But if they say,
Come up to us, then we will go up.
For the Lord has given them into our hand, and this shall be the sign to us.
And so both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines.
And the Philistines said,
Look, Hebrews are coming, out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.
And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said,
Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.
And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer,
Come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.
And then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet,
and his armor-bearer after him.
And they fell before Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed them after him.
And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made,
killed about 20 men within, as it were half a furrow's length, in an acre of land.
And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people.
The garrison and even the raiders trembled.
The earth quaked, and it became a very great panic.
And the watchmen of Saul and Gibeah of Benjamin looked.
And behold, the multitude was dispersing here and there.
And then Saul said to the people who were with him,
Count and see who has gone from us.
And when they had counted, behold, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there.
And so Saul said to Ahijah, Bring the ark of God here.
For the ark of God went at that time with the people of Israel.
And now, while Saul was talking to the priest,
the tumult in the camp of the Philistines increased more and more.
And so Saul said to the priest, Withdraw your hand.
And then Saul and all the people who were with him railed and went into the battle.
And behold, every Philistine's sword was against his fellow.
And there was very great confusion.
And now the Hebrews, who had been with the Philistines before that time,
and who had gone up with them into the camp,
even they also turned to be with the Israelites, who were with Saul and Jonathan.
Likewise, when all the men of Israel, who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim,
heard that the Philistines were fleeing,
they too followed hard after them in the battle.
And so the Lord saved Israel that day.
And the battle passed beyond Beth-Avon.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
You may be seated.
Isaiah 40 reminds us that the grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of the Lord stands forever.
And in Luke 1, the angel Gabriel declares that no word from God shall be void of power.
Would you pray with me?
O Lord, nothing can restrain you from saving.
May it be that you will work for us today.
Amen.
Well, the need is clear.
The orders have been given.
And the mission is before us all.
But what is the church to do?
And how is the church to do it?
I looked online and there are 44 million books written about the mission of the church.
The message of most of these books is if it's big, then you're doing something right.
Recently, someone actually was trying to tell me that.
And the implication is that if you're able to take out a big mortgage, buy land, build,
then you earn the right to write books about how to do that.
The implication then on the other side is that if you're small, you're doing something wrong.
By God's grace, I, well, I'll say in my weakness, I did let the first piece of advice get to me in my flesh.
I confess this to Jonathan and others.
It stirred it up in me.
And then, by God's grace, he ministered to me through another pastor.
And I want to tell you about his testimony of 22 years in the ministry at the end of the sermon.
Who's right?
Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus, I see in this passage, this first half of 1 Samuel 14,
two different approaches to mission.
Two very different approaches to accomplishing what God has called us to do.
On one side, it's a philosophy that depends on what man can see.
That's Saul.
That's Saul's, quote, philosophy of ministry or mission.
But on the other hand, praise the Lord, we have a theology that rests on God's power.
That's Jonathan.
Amen?
Two very different approaches to mission.
Where we left off in the last chapter, Marsha pointed this out beautifully in Sunday school.
Jonathan had received a victory from the Lord.
Saul stepped in front of him and took the credit.
Let everyone hear that Saul has done this.
The two are one behind the other.
And as Marsha put it, now there's daylight between the two.
There's a separation between these two men.
Would you look at verse 1 with me?
Now it happened one day.
Oh, that little phrase, it should remind you.
We've seen this in this book already, remember?
It just so happened.
He goes wondering for the donkeys.
It just so happened.
Samuel comes down.
We've seen this in other parts of the Bible.
Do you remember in Ruth?
That's the way the Lord's providence is described.
So when we hear this chapter starting that way, now it happened one day.
We should already know.
Pay attention to the details because God's providence is going to be highlighted in every little thing that comes up next.
Even these Hebrew names of rocks.
It happened one day that Jonathan, now remember earlier he was just called Jonathan, but now he's called Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who bore his armor.
Remember, some have gotten themselves a really good, apparently, job as a golf caddy.
And that's similar to being a weapons caddy.
What do you do as a caddy?
You follow them around.
You carry their gear.
You assist.
You support.
You criticize when they're not listening.
A weapons caddy would do the same thing.
You're carrying their weapons around.
And he said to him, come, let us go over to the Philistines' garrison that is on the other side.
So on the side that the Hebrews are on, where Jonathan and his armor bearer are having this dialogue, that is called Geba.
Geba means hill.
So they're up on a hill.
The other side where the Philistines are, do you remember from the previous chapter, that place is called Michmash.
Michmash means hidden.
So they've taken a position of being under stealth.
They've invaded Israel's land, and they're in Michmash.
And in between that side of the Philistines, this side of the Israelites, is a wadi.
A wadi is a geographic feature that we know as well.
It's a ravine in California, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado.
They call it an arroyo, using the Spanish name.
It's basically a mini canyon or a dry creek.
And on those monsoon months where there's a couple months of massive rain and snow melt all coming down together, it'll flood up in a hurry.
But the rest of the time, it's a dry creek.
And so picture this scene.
Here's Jonathan on the hill.
And he says, let's cross down through this dry creek and go up the other side.
Jonathan is a prince, remember?
Remember his dad, Saul, most likely time has passed, and everyone knows he is the prince of Israel.
But he's on a mission.
He leaves the comfort of royal life behind.
He and Saul are the only two with weapons that could be used to save.
Remember, even the farm equipment, you couldn't even get it sharpened.
It's going to cost you way too much.
It's prohibitive.
The Philistines have a monopoly on iron.
And no one is going to be able to compete with them.
They have crippled the Israelites.
But Jonathan does have what it takes to fight and to save.
He has the weapons.
Now this little detail is given on this first verse about Jonathan.
What does the next word say on yours?
But he did not tell his father.
The silhouettes are clearly formed.
Why not?
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the author is setting up a contrast here.
He implies that Saul would disagree with Jonathan's plan.
He wouldn't get it.
He would think it's a reckless suicide mission.
Saul didn't share Jonathan's theology of mission.
According to Saul's philosophy, this was a plan doomed to die.
You could probably ask any Reformed Baptist pastor and someone has told them that, right?
If you don't share that same theology of mission.
Now notice the contrast how in verse 2 Saul is described.
Saul was sitting.
Jonathan is going, marching on the attack, invading enemy land, which is actually their land to be taken.
And Saul is sitting.
In the outskirts or cave of Gibeah, under a pomegranate tree.
It's the picture of comfort and luxury.
In the shade, with cool water.
Most likely his feet are propped off.
Propped up with the sandals off.
That's what I would do at least.
Well, it says it's near Migron.
And that means precipice or land slip.
You see the beauty of the details.
He's sitting in comfort right next to a landslide, a precipice, asking to fall.
And the people who were with him were about 600 men.
So this man who has 600 sits in safety and comfort, eating fruit like Adam.
And he's on the edge of a landslide.
The ground beneath him is not solid ground.
It's a cliff.
By contrast, Jonathan leaves the comfort and goes on the offensive.
You see the contrast set up in verses 1 and 2?
All right, let's move on to the next movement.
Next, the religion of each man is revealed.
We shouldn't think that Jonathan is religious and Saul is not or vice versa.
Both have a religion that's going to be revealed.
And what happens next?
The one man has an appearance-based religion.
Appearance-based religion.
See, that's the contrast that relies on man's sight.
Look at verse 3.
Ahijah is going to say something about Ahijah, but first he puts in this whole genealogy.
Remember, it just so happened this is all providential.
We should pay attention to these details.
So Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother.
Wait, where have I heard the name Ichabod?
Do you remember what Ichabod means?
It means the glory of God has departed.
This is the line of priests Saul's going to dress up.
Ichabod's brother, son of Phinehas.
Wait, we know Phinehas.
Hophni and Phinehas.
Those two priests under Eli's authority who had turned the holy hill of God into a pagan temple of debauchery,
carnality, flesh-loving, lust.
It's as worse or as bad as any pagan temple in Egypt or in the Canaanite land or of the early churches later on.
And look what this man is doing.
He was wearing an ephod.
The ephod was the priest's ornamental breastplate.
It's significant for what Saul is going to call this man to come and do later,
which is basically to roll the dice and determine the will of God.
But that was kept in this breastplate of the priest.
See how the author here couldn't even call this man Ahijah a priest.
He just says to say that he was wearing the ephod.
He wasn't a priest.
He couldn't be a priest because the Lord had already removed that line.
Eli's line was prohibited.
They were rejected.
They had no priestly authority to act on.
And yet that's who Saul dresses up and brings along with him as a token to decide what to do in battle.
This man only wanted God's will through external manipulations.
You see Saul's religion?
Clothing, title, pedigree.
And really all of that in front of the army of 600 so that whatever he decides we're going to do, he has their backing.
It's all a big public show.
A religion based on external displays.
A philosophy of mission that relies on man's manipulation.
1 Timothy 3.5 warns us about this.
Have nothing to do with such men.
Some of you have spiraled and spent months or years away from church because of such men.
But by God's grace you know the shepherd's voice and he takes care of his people.
Here's the warning from 1 Timothy 3.5.
Such men have a form of godliness.
Saul did.
But denying its power.
They resist the truth and their folly will be manifest to all.
That's exactly how this Old Testament chapter ends.
Saul's folly exposed to all and preserved in the scripture for all generations to come.
As a warning to the true army of God.
So that was Saul.
His religion exposed.
Well what about Jonathan?
Jonathan had a faith enlivened obedience.
Saul had an appearance based religion.
But Jonathan will see has a faith enlivened obedience.
We continue reading in our passage.
Verse 3.
The people didn't even know that Jonathan had gone.
See.
While his dad wants a public show.
Jonathan obeys without anyone even noticing.
Verse 4.
Between the passes.
By which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison.
There was a sharp rock like a cliff on one side.
And a sharp rock a cliff on the other side.
The name of one was Bozes.
That means slippery.
And the name of the other.
Sene.
That means thorny.
The front of one faced northward.
Opposite Michmash.
Do you get the picture?
Michmash.
The Philistines are to the north.
So the one that's facing northward.
Would you guess that that one is slippery or thorny?
The north face of a cliff.
We know in Colorado.
That's going to be the slippery one.
And the other one faced southward.
Facing Gibeah.
Facing the Israelites.
That one was thorny.
The Philistines were tucked under behind that one.
And his theology of ministry is beautifully painted for us.
Come, armor bearer.
Let's go.
Let's climb down the slippery face on this side.
Let's army crawl up the thorns on the other side.
Now listen to verse 6.
Theology revealed.
Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor.
Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised.
He's not just trying to dish out insults.
This is covenantal language.
It's an outpost of the invading enemy who opposes God's kingdom and who considers God's covenant people, the bride of God, a stench.
Smelly.
They're not just trying to do it.
Smelly.
They've crippled and are humiliating the bride of Christ.
Let's go over there and attack.
And here he says what he believes.
It may be that the Lord will work for us.
Does that sound like maybe he doesn't have a strong faith?
It's weak and he's trying to hedge himself a little bit.
I think he's learning the same theology that God will teach later to the Hebrews when they're carried off to Babylon in exile.
The God in whom we trust is able to deliver us.
But even if he does not, we will serve him.
If we get thrown into the fiery furnace and our bodies are reduced to ash, God would have been able to deliver us from that.
That picture of hell on earth.
And even if he does not, we'll serve him.
Of course he's able.
It's not a weak faith that Jonathan shows.
It's a strong faith.
It's a faith in the strong God.
A faith strong enough to rest itself in God's freedom.
In the Reformation, the mantra was this.
Sola Scriptura.
And the conviction of such ministers, which is really just representing all true believers of all times, is this.
That it's our job to get the word of God to the ear.
Our orders are clear.
But it's God's job to get his word to the heart.
Only he can do that.
Let us go and get the word to the ear.
Maybe it'll be that God will work through what we're doing.
He's free to do it.
And we know God's power.
And we trust his good pleasure.
Here's the grounds for such confidence in mission.
Jonathan says it.
Nothing restrains the Lord from saving.
If there's to be any salvation today, it will come from the Lord.
The Philistines can't restrain God.
They can restrain men.
They can cripple the economy of the nation or of the Christians in any kingdom.
But nothing can restrain the Lord from saving by many or by few.
God doesn't need 600.
He doesn't need 3,000.
He doesn't need 30,000.
Here's one man.
Faith enlivened obedience.
And his armor bearer.
I love how the armor bearer doesn't get a name, but he does get words in the dialogue.
He doesn't even need to be named.
We know God's power.
We trust his good pleasure.
So the armor bearer says to him in verse 7,
Do all that is in your heart.
Go then.
Here I am with you according to your heart.
Well, who put this desire in Jonathan's heart?
It's not a natural desire.
This desire came from the Lord.
It's the ministry of the Holy Spirit to Jonathan.
To act in obedience.
By faith alone.
In God's power alone.
And that faith and that theology that Jonathan just got done preaching to the armor bearer.
The Holy Spirit causes the armor bearer to receive it and resonate with that.
He's most likely going to lose his life.
All the odds are against them.
He doesn't need to do this.
Jonathan's giving him an invitation.
And he expresses the heart of the matter.
Do what is in your heart, Jonathan.
This faith.
This conviction you have.
I am with you according to your heart.
It's because of what you said that I want to go with you to.
Praise the Lord for such partners in mission.
Amen.
Come.
Let's go over and obey what Christ has called us to do.
We ought to be saying that to one another.
Come.
Let's go over to our neighbors.
Let's have our friends over and hear about their life and this hard thing they're going through.
It may be that the Lord will work through us.
Come.
Let's go set up chairs at the park and preach the gospel.
It may be that the Lord will work.
Nothing restrains him from saving.
We can bring the word to the ear and maybe the Lord will bring it to the heart.
Come.
Let's do those simple things of gathering two or three in the name of Jesus and praying.
And it may be that as we join our prayers to his, his spirit will apply that powerfully in the heart and life of someone who needs it most.
Let's give out the gospel.
Let's evangelize.
It may be that the Lord will work for us.
Well, let's see if the Lord does.
Faith enlivened obedience proven now.
Would you look at verse eight?
So Jonathan hears the response from the armor bearer and says, very well.
It's on.
Let us cross over to these men and we will show ourselves to them.
Now, Saul was relying on that external, you know, manipulation of wearing the ephod and bringing a priest from a banished line.
Jonathan wants to hear directly from the Lord.
Lord, you tell us.
You tell us if we're to be, if we're being unwise and foolish.
If you say we're being foolish, we can turn around right now.
You show us how you want to act.
But the Lord stirred this, I believe, in my heart to obey.
If the Lord turns me away from it, that's okay.
I'll accept his will.
If they say come up, then we'll know the Lord is with us.
If they say we'll come down to you, we won't do it.
We'll leave it in the Lord's hands.
But the wording is very interesting.
Would you look at verse 10?
Now zero in where he says, come up to us, then we will go up.
Now pay attention.
For the Lord has delivered them into our hands.
Do you remember the name of Jonathan?
Yahweh Nathan?
Yahweh is God, the Lord, Jehovah, the covenant-keeping God.
And Nathan means received or has delivered or given.
He's using his own name in his theology of mission.
If they say come up, that means Jonathan.
It means the Lord has already delivered them into our hands.
And this will be a sign from God to us.
His theology relies on God's power.
Now look at verse 11.
That's exactly what happens.
He gets mocked.
They get their bluff called.
And he says the exact same thing.
Come on up after me, armor bearer, for Jonathan.
Into the hands of Israel.
The Lord Yahweh is keeping his covenant to his people.
And has already delivered them.
It's in the past tense to his people.
His faith rests in God's freedom.
It's a religion that receives freely from God's strong hand.
Trusting completely in God's good pleasure.
Faith enlivened obedience.
Proven by the almighty God who delivers it.
Well the next movement I would like us to see is the wartime behavior of both men.
Described.
Saul and Jonathan.
Wartime behavior.
Jonathan continues trusting in God's power by faith.
He's a trusting warrior.
We read in verse 13 that Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees.
See first he had to descend down into the ravine.
On the slippery slope.
But now he's climbing back up.
On his hands and knees or hands and feet.
What it looks like is an army crawl.
It's slow.
It's inch by inch.
One after the other.
Deliberate.
Trusting.
It's also a posture of worship.
This would have been a great time to describe in detail.
The fencing maneuvers of Jonathan and his armor bearer.
But you notice how he's described as he climbed up.
Army crawl.
Posture of worship.
With his armor bearer after him.
And what's the outcome?
He receives the help from the Lord.
His trust in God is not disappointed.
Listen to how simply it's put.
And think of this.
Who wrote this?
Maybe Samuel.
And who did Samuel hear from either the Lord inspiring and just telling him.
Or Jonathan giving a report from the battle.
So what happened?
We climbed up.
Posture of worship.
And then what happened?
They fell before Jonathan.
And as he came up after him.
His armor bearer killed them.
No glory for Jonathan.
He wasn't described as a great fighter.
He army crawled.
And the Lord made him fall before him.
The ratio is interesting.
You remember how in chapter 13 there were 30,000 Philistines and 3,000 Israelites?
And maybe it's 30 regiments.
But the ratio is you reduce it down.
The zeros become ones.
Or the threes become ones.
It's a 10 to one ratio from chapter 13.
The odds are all against them.
Now the ratio is.
Look at verse 14.
That first slaughter.
So there's more to come like that.
Jonathan and his armor bearer.
There were about 20 men.
So here's two Israelites to 20.
Same ratio.
Reduce it down 1 to 10.
The Lord can do it.
The Lord can use the small numbers.
The Lord can use impossible ratios to bring himself all the glory.
I love the detail as well.
Not only the ratio of the men.
But also the space in which this little attack took place.
It's described as about half a furrow of land.
The Hebrew reads half a yoke of land.
A yoke of land is the area that a pair of oxen could plow or furrow in one day.
In about half a day's work.
And these two warriors are described as oxen pulling a plow together.
Remember in Philippians how Paul described his partner in ministry.
His yoke fellow.
His armor bearer so to speak.
These yoke fellows.
It's just half a day's work.
They're not even worn out.
They're tired.
They're I'm sure carrying nicks and bleeding here and there.
And maybe rolled an ankle.
But they're not even worn out.
It's halfway.
We could keep going.
Verse 15.
There was trembling in the camp.
In the field.
And among all the people.
And the garrison of the raiders also trembled.
And the earth quaked.
So that it was a very strong trembling.
The Lord takes this faith empowered obedience.
And chooses to work mightily.
The Philistines now who had every reason.
According to worldly powers.
To be confident and to win.
Are now shaking in their sandals.
There's most likely also an earthquake.
Just a reminder.
Just like God can send a flash lightning storm and rain.
He can send an earthquake in this part of the world.
And cause mass confusion to fall upon these massive troops.
Jonathan and the armor bearer placed their lives in the hands of God.
And they prayed.
May it be that the Lord will work for us.
And the Lord worked mightily by few.
Martin Luther said.
I have held many things in my hands.
And I have lost them all.
But whatever I have placed in God's hands.
That I still possess.
Place your life in God's hands.
And he will work mightily.
For his glory.
Rest your life in God's power.
By faith.
That's the wartime behavior.
Of those who trust in God.
Well let's look at the other hand now.
Saul.
The worldly ruler.
Who relied on man's sight.
We're going to see in verse 16.
Saul first had to see the tide of war turning.
Before he was willing to join the fight.
We read in verse 16.
Now the watchman of Saul.
And Gibeah of Benjamin.
Reminding us.
Remember Benjamin.
Saul is still from there.
And there was a multitude.
Melting away.
That multitude of Philistines.
Like sand on the seashore.
Now melting away.
Just like you would melt down their iron weapons.
And when they saw God working in power.
They went here and there.
So I wrestled for a while.
Who is this referring to?
Who is it that went here and there?
I think the Hebrew doesn't answer that clearly.
We can't say for certain.
We know that the Philistines were in chaos.
They were trembling and scattered.
And melting away.
But it seems the wording to me.
Maybe even more likely.
That this is also describing the massive troops.
The 600 with Saul.
Going here and there.
There's chaos in the camp.
Everyone doing as he sees best.
Whatever pleases him.
In verse 17.
Then Saul said to the people who were with him.
Now call the role and see who has gone from us.
See he can't keep track of his people.
That's a chaos in his camp.
And when they had called roles.
Surprisingly.
Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there.
Well we had wondered if losing his donkeys.
Was foreshadowing.
Him not being able to take care of those entrusted.
To his leadership.
Saul had to have all the troops lined up.
Before he realized his own son.
Wasn't there.
You see how.
The silhouettes of these two men drift farther and farther apart.
They have the same name.
They're from the same tribe.
But they're not close.
They represent the same banner.
In the war.
But are they really fighting for the same kingdom?
Are they really on the same mission?
And Saul says to Ahijah.
While Jonathan's dialogue is with his armor bearer.
Who receives this call to go die.
And lay down your life.
Potentially.
Unless the Lord will choose to save.
Saul is now consulting with this rejected priest.
From whom the glory of God has departed.
Bring the ark here.
For at that time the ark of God was with the children of Israel.
In Kirash Jerem.
Remember the ark had been carried away to Philistia.
But now it was back in the land of Israel.
And Ahijah is now wearing the Unum.
Urim and the Thunum.
Which were kind of like dice.
We don't know a whole lot about them from scripture.
But they were used to determine option A or option B.
In seeking the Lord's will.
So Saul.
Even after watching the Lord give a massive victory through his own son.
Is still uncertain of what to do.
Now listen.
Even as the priest is going to reach in there and grab these to help determine the will of God.
We read that there was noise in the camp of the Philistines.
And it continued to increase.
So Saul is more tuned in in his ear to the Philistines and their behavior.
And so Saul said to the priest withdraw your hand.
Saul couldn't even entrust this to the Lord.
His ears were so obsessed with what the world was doing.
He couldn't listen to God.
This worldly ruler relies entirely on man's senses.
What you can see and what you can hear.
What a contrast to Jonathan.
The trusting warrior.
Resting in God's power by faith.
Well, as we look at the conclusion of this passage, I want to highlight for us some of the rich theology.
As I'm sure you've already been observing.
Specifically, what does this reveal about the Lord and his gospel?
And number two, how does this foreshadow the work of Jesus Christ?
The true king.
And the true trusting warrior.
First of all, it reminds us that the Lord loves to save his people against all odds.
It just so happened that day that the Lord proved Jonathan's conviction true.
Nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.
The Lord is pleased to do this time and time again.
In every generation of church history.
Scholars estimate that the church in Ephesus.
The audience of the letter to the Ephesians that we love and we pour over and study.
Most likely that congregation was 40 to 60 people.
The church in Philippi.
40 to 60 people.
We can fast forward to the 1600s.
To the great nation of Scotland.
John and Carrie just got back from there.
That's why I'm smiling at them.
A wonderful preacher named Samuel Rutherford.
In his congregation, the building itself would only fit about 150 people.
That's if every little corner was packed every single time.
The Lord is able to save by many or by few.
John Owen, another Puritan, preached at times to 40 people.
And then the Lord can take, like with Spurgeon, you know, here's 20 children in a Sunday school class.
And the Lord can bring in as many as he wants.
But he's the one who is saving.
He's the one who is working mightily.
Not by what we can see as men.
Not by sight, but by faith.
In whatever way will bring him the most glory.
We read in verse 20 of our passage that Saul and all the other people who were with him assembled.
And they went to battle.
Yes, the Lord can work by many as well.
Just as he worked by few.
Indeed, every man's sword was against his neighbor.
And there is very great confusion.
Verse 21.
Moreover, the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before that time.
Who went up with them into the camp from the surrounding country.
They also joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.
Likewise, all the men of Israel who had hidden in the mountains of Ephraim.
When they heard that the Philistines fled.
They also followed hard after them in battle.
Well, the concluding phrase is the very beginning only of verse 23.
So the Lord saved Israel that day.
This is an allusion to Exodus 14.30.
Which says, so the Lord saved Israel that day.
Out of the hand of the Egyptians.
And the theme for the people of God under the word of God is the same.
The Lord is your faithful deliverer.
Don't put your hopes on men.
Don't put your hopes on idols.
The Lord is the one who delivered his people out of slavery and bondage.
It's the Lord who delivered the victory today.
The people of God are in the promised land.
Yahweh Nathan.
The Lord is delivering to them now.
The rest and the freedom that he has promised.
Romans 6.23 reminds us that the wages of sin is death.
But the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.
How can that be?
It's because the Lord freely delivers to his people salvation through Jesus Christ.
From the wages of sin and death.
From bondage to our own sin and our own flesh.
Jesus preached in Matthew 19.26.
What is impossible with man is possible with God.
How can that be so?
Hebrews 7.25.
Because he is able to save to the uttermost.
Those who draw near to him.
Who is it that draws near to him?
It's those for whom he is interceding.
And he's interceding because he lives.
He's the great deliverer.
The great king.
And he loves to save his people against all odds.
There's not a sin you or I could commit.
So vile.
So evil.
That the righteousness of Christ couldn't cover it.
His righteousness is so much greater.
And now the foreshadowing of Jesus.
Our Lord Jesus Christ.
He's magnified by this contrast between Saul and Jonathan.
Saul magnifies the glory of God in Jesus by opposites.
And Jonathan magnifies it by pointing a head to a greater deliverer.
Like Saul and Jonathan.
There are two leaders.
Two federal heads over all mankind.
It's Adam and Christ.
That's what Paul argues in Romans 5.
It's Adam and Christ.
Those are the only two with the weapons.
So to speak.
The ones who are able to secure for a people salvation.
Adam was able not to sin.
But he squandered the freedom of his will.
And he bound the entire human race to slavery and to sin.
Our wills are then bound with Adam's.
Dead.
And like Jonathan.
Our Lord Jesus Christ.
He's heaven's prince.
Who's on a mission.
As we just sang in our songs today.
He left his glorious throne above.
And came into our suffering.
He left the comforts of courtly life in heaven behind.
And he was tempted on the slippery cliff.
With every temptation known to man.
Yet he never slipped.
But the enemy then taunts and mocks Jesus.
If you're able to save yourself.
Then do it and save us too.
And those of us who are sinners.
In our flesh mock Jesus.
As he hangs on the cross.
Shedding his blood.
Wearing the crown of thorns.
Only to ascend.
Victorious.
Our Lord Jesus Christ.
He trusted his father to the very end.
He's the trusting warrior.
He ascends on the other side of that chasm of death.
Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus.
My dear brothers and sisters.
Soldiers in the battle.
As Jonathan called the armor bearer.
Come up after me.
For the Lord has given victory in my hands.
Jesus says to you.
Come after me.
I've already ascended the hill.
See what's in my heart.
Follow after me.
And we respond.
Just like that armor bearer.
To King Jesus.
Do all that is in your heart.
You go in front.
Here.
I am with you Lord.
Army crawl.
One inch after the other.
And this is the encouragement I got from that pastor.
One of our dear families moved to Jacksonville, Florida.
Recently.
Six months ago or so.
And I've been in touch with their pastor there.
Reformed Baptist pastor.
And I shared with him some of the challenges of.
You know.
Just wanting my flesh to compare.
And the criticism of.
You know.
Big successful churches.
So to speak.
And he just said.
Started telling this story.
He said.
When they moved there.
22 years ago.
He had been through a hard meeting.
And just parked in the parking lot.
Before going home.
And just found himself weeping.
And thinking.
Lord.
If this is the end of this little church.
So be it.
It's in your hands.
This is your work.
And the Lord ministered to him in that moment.
He said.
I don't know what else to do Lord.
I don't know what the future of this church will be.
I trust you.
You're the Jonathan.
You're the warrior.
You do the work.
And what the Lord is calling him to do that day.
Was to love his wife.
Love his kids.
Shepherd.
Those precious few souls the Lord had put in his care.
And the Lord helped him to be faithful that day.
The Lord helped him to be faithful the next day.
The next week.
And he's been there for 22 years.
The Lord is doing the work.
Praise the Lord for his example and his testimony.
Nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.
So church.
Let's be faithful with what God has given us today.
Today we will take the next step of obedience.
With Jesus as the king of your life.
And it may be that he will work for us today.
Would you go to the Lord and pray that with me as well.
Amen.